GAME STATS
PHOTO GALLERY
FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS
SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS
POSTGAME REACTION
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The 23
rd-ranked Samford football team jumped out to a big early lead and cruised to a 35-14 win over 11
th-ranked The Citadel in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
With the win, Samford improves to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play, while The Citadel drops to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in league play. The win ended The Citadel's nine-game SoCon regular-season win streak, and it also marked Samford's ninth-straight home win, dating back to 2015. The win was also Samford's first over a ranked FCS opponent since a 17-14 win over 17
th-ranked Chattanooga in 2013.
"I am really excited for our team," Samford head coach
Chris Hatcher said. "After the first couple of wins this season, I was more relieved, and that's not the way you have to coach and that's not the way you have to play. Our strength coach (
Ben Ashford) did a great job this week of getting the guys to go out there and have a good time and play football the way we're capable of playing, and that was the difference in the game."
Samford quarterback
Devlin Hodges completed 21-of-26 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Hodges now holds the school's career record for completions with 706. He has now thrown for 7,942 yards in his career, just eight yards shy of the current record of 7,950, set by Ray Nelson from 2001 to 2004.
Kelvin McKnight led the Samford receivers with six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Yassar El-Amin caught four passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, while
TaDarryl Marshall hauled in two passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Moise Satine rushed 12 times for 73 yards and a touchdown to lead the Samford running game.
Defensively, Samford was led by
Ahmad Gooden with 12 tackles, including two tackles for loss.
Omari Williams had 10 tackles, while
Christian Stark and
Shaheed Salmon had nine stops each.
For The Citadel, Jordan Black completed 5-of-11 passes for 136 yards. Black also rushed 16 times for 60 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Rainey rushed 18 times for 59 yards and a score. Defensively, Kailik Williams had 11 tackles, including six solo stops, and an interception. Aaron Spann also had an interception for The Citadel.
Samford jumped out on top on the first drive of the game. Hodges connected with McKnight for an eight-yard touchdown with 14:00 to go in the first quarter for an early 7-0 lead. The play was set up by a 57-yard flea-flicker from Hodges to McKnight, giving Samford the ball at The Citadel's eight-yard line.
Samford struck again quickly as Hodges connected with El-Amin for a 70-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-0 with 11:56 left in the opening period. The home Bulldogs added to their lead when Satine scored on a 10-yard run with 9:40 left in the first quarter for a 21-0 Samford lead. Hodges scored on a one-yard run to make the score 28-0 with 4:19 to go in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Hodges connected with Marshall for a 63-yard touchdown to make the score 35-0 with 10:39 to go in the second quarter. Black got The Citadel on the scoreboard, scoring from one-yard out to cut the lead to 35-7 with 6:55 left in the second period.
The only points in the second half came when Rainey scored on an eight-yard run with 8:41 left in the third quarter to make the score 35-14. The Samford defense stepped up big in the game, stopping The Citadel five times on fourth-down plays to end scoring threats.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 7, when the Bulldogs play at VMI. The game is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. (CT) start from Lexington, Va.
